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Gekko Kamen
Gekko Kamen (月光仮面 Moonlight Mask) (aka The Moonbeam Man) is a fictional superhero that has appeared in Japanese tokusatsu and anime television shows and movies since his TV debut in 1958. The films were made in black and white/ToeiScope format. Created by writer Kōhan Kawauchi, Gekko Kamen is best described as Japan's answer to The Lone Ranger, Batman and Zorro. Japan's First TV Superhero Where as Super Giant (Starman) is Japan's first celluloid superhero (debuted in movies), it was Gekko Kamen who set the standard as Japan's first live-action TV superhero, and was a huge success with children. Television was already new in Japan, so many children who didn't have a TV set were gathered around to watch it at a friend's or neighbor's house. Children also bought toy capes, sunglasses, masks and pistols, and played Gekko Kamen in schoolyards and backyards (but as with every children's superhero, Japanese or American, Gekko Kamen was not without liability casualties). Characters * Jūrō Iwai/Gekko Kamen Episodes The original black & white Gekko Kamen tokusatsu TV drama series, produced by the advertising agency Senkosha, was aired on KRTV (now TBS) from February 24, 1958 to July 5, 1959, with a total of 130 (or possibly 131) episodes, divided into 5 chapters or story arcs. Jūrō Iwai/Gekko Kamen was played by Ose Koichi. Chapters *''Skull Mask'' (どくろ仮面 - Dokuro Kamen) - Episodes 1-72, 72 episodes (February 24, 1958-May 17, 1958) *''The Secret of the Paradai Kingdom'' (パラダイ王国の秘密 - Paradai Ōkoku no Himitsu) - Episodes 73-93, 21 episodes (May 25, 1958-October 12, 1958) *''Mammoth Kong'' (マンモスコング - Manmosu Kongu) - Episodes 94-104, 11 episodes (October 19, 1958-December 26, 1958) **Features TV's first daikaiju, Mammoth Kong. *''The Ghost Party Strikes Back'' (幽霊党の逆襲 - Yureitō no Gyakushū) - Episodes 105-117, 13 episodes (January 4, 1959-March 29, 1959) *''Don't Turn Your Hand to Revenge'' (その復讐に手を出すな - Sono Fukushū ni Te wo Dasu na) - Episodes 118-131, 14 episodes (April 5, 1959-July 5, 1959) The 6 Theatrical Movies To coincide with the Nippon Gendai/Senkosha TV series, Toei produced six Gekko Kamen theatrical movies. This was Toei's first involvement in the tokusatsu superhero genre (although their first original superhero production was the TV series 7-Color Mask in 1959). All 6 movies (which are in black-and-white, just like the TV series) are basically feature adaptations of the TV show's story arcs, and were filmed in "ToeiScope" (2.35:1). Three were released in 1958, and three in 1959. For these movie versions, Jūrō Iwai/Gekko Kamen was played by Fumitake Omura. *''Gekko Kamen'' (月光仮面) July 30, 1958; Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi *''Gekko Kamen - Duel to the Death in Dangerous Waters'' (月光仮面 - 絶海の死斗 - Gekkō Kamen - Zekkai no Shitō) August 6, 1958; Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi *''Gekko Kamen - The Claws of Satan'' (月光仮面 - 魔人〈サタン〉の爪 - Gekkō Kamen - Satan no Tsume) December 22, 1958; Directed by Eijiro Wakabayashi *''Gekko Kamen - The Monster Kong'' (月光仮面 - 怪獣コング - Gekkō Kamen - Kaijū Kongu) aka The Monster Gorilla; April 1, 1959; Directed by Satoru Ainoda *''Gekko Kamen - The Ghost Party Strikes Back'' (月光仮面 - 幽霊党の逆襲 - Gekkō Kamen - Yureitō no Gyakushū) aka The Challenging Ghost; July 28, 1959; Directed by Shoichi Shimazu *''Gekko Kamen - The Last of the Devil'' (月光仮面 - 悪魔の最後 - Gekkō Kamen - Akuma no Saigo) aka The Last Death of the Devil; August 4, 1959, Directed by Shoichi Shimazu Manga adaptation A few months after the show first aired, a manga (comic book) tie-in was commissioned. There were different artists drawing the manga, the majority of which was done by young artist Jiro Kuwata (who would later become the co-creator of 8 Man). Liability issues and cancellation Children watching superhero shows sometimes attempt to imitate the hero's dangerous and impossible feats, and Gekko Kamen was no exception. Because a boy in Japan jumped to his death imitating Gekko Kamen's dangerous stunts, the show was unfortunately cancelled on July 5, 1959, following the ending of the final story arc, Don't Turn Your Hand to Revenge. Toei's movies, however, continued well into August 1959. (Fortunately, this would not be the end of Gekko Kamen. He made his return to Japanese TV 13 years later.) Anime The anime adaptation Seigi wo Ai Suru Mono - Gekkō Kamen (正義を愛する者 - 月光仮面), translated as The One Who Loves Justice: Moonlight Mask, was produced by Knack, and aired on Nippon Television from January 10, 1972 to October 2, 1972, with a total of 39 episodes (divided into three chapters or story arcs). The show also became very popular in Latin America under the title Centella. Japanese voice actor Michihiro Ikemizu provided the voice of Jūrō Iwai/Gekko Kamen. The hero now wears an open face helmet instead of a turban, and his cape has an ornament with the scarf attached. Chapters *The Claw of Satan Series (Episodes 1-13) *The Mammoth Kong Series (Episodes 14-26) *The Dragon's Fang Series (Episodes 27-39) 1981's Movie The tokusatsu movie Gekko Kamen (月光仮面), produced by Purumie International/Herald Enterprises and distributed by Nippon Herald Pictures, was released theatrically on March 14, 1981. Considered Japan's answer to the American box-office fiasco, The Legend of the Lone Ranger (released the same year), this updated version of the Moonlight Mask legend bombed at the Japanese box-office. Daisuke Kuwahara (who, like Klinton Spilsbury, disappeared from doing films) played George Owara (Gekko Kamen's new alter-ego), and the rest of the cast made up of veteran action starlet Etsuko Shihomi, Daijiro Harada and Takayuki Godai, with none of the original characters turning up. The movie was directed and co-written by Yukihiro Sawada.